Muslim Women Fashions: Muslim Women Garb

Muslim Garb?!
The recent brouhaha on an utterance (totally ignorant, in our humble opinion, and we will tell you why soon enough) by news analyst Juan Williams about "Muslim garb" has provoked those of us who are Muslims to ponder on the question of garb. Do Muslims really have a standard uniform on clothes? What exactly constitutes as "Muslim garb"? But before we get into that, let's take a look at the Juan Williams statement that started it all.

"When I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb, and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous. Now, I remember also that when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week. He said the war with Muslims, America's war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts"

- Juan Williams, Oct. 18, 2010

First, Juan Williams appears to have a problem with Muslims identifying themselves with as Muslims. He claims that by wearing the so-called "Muslim garb", they are identifying themselves "first and foremost as Muslims". Why don't we get a bit deeper with this concept of clothing? The fact that people wear clothes at all actually is an interesting thing. No other living creature on this Earth spends as much time as we, humans, do in designing, shopping, and dreaming about clothes! That we do this, it is something distinctly human. The entire fashion industry is built upon this very human trait. Any clothing on the body identifies ourselves as first and foremost as HUMAN. Duh!

Second, Juan Williams assumes that there is an unmistakeably "Muslim garb". It is time for all of you who buy into such a misconception to realize there is NO such thing as a Muslim garb. Instead, there is a conception of Islamic modesty (haya) for both men and women in behavior and attitudes (the internal) and also dress (the external). This stems from the Quran, the holy book of revelations for Muslims.

“And tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to [those relatives who fall within bounds of close relationship explained in the Qur’an]...” [Quran, 24: 30-31]

The essential elements of modest dress for females stemming from the above verses, and Sunnah tradition (sayings of the Prophet) typically entails long sleeves, loose clothing (as opposed to form-fitting clothes) and head covering. For males, essential elements of modest dress is covering themselves from waist down. How a human person who is of the Muslim faith chooses to make that conception of modest dress into reality is entirely up to them.

Third, given that there Muslims are a varied lot in terms of ethnicity - only 20% or less of the Muslim population around the world are of Arab ethnicity, and there are also variations of ethnic dress between Arabs - Muslims' ethnic or traditional dress will similarly be just as varied. Islamic fashion is premised on the incorporation of this ethnic variance and Islamic conception of modest dress. In fact, this blog incorporates Western fashion with Islamic conception of modest dress - browse through our posts!

Therefore, the Amish woman in her long-sleeved dress with a full skirt, complete with a bonnet that hides her hair is living out the Islamic conception of modest dress! Bet you Juan Williams would not have thought that such an outfit would fall under "Muslim garb"!

Note: A lot of people have expressed dismay at Juan William's firing from NPR, claiming that this goes against freedom of speech and expression. But the fact is, Juan Williams has expressed a viewpoint that is racist and discriminatory based on an irrational fear. This may be his personal feelings, and he is of course entitled to feel that way, however misguided it is. But when he expresses such racist viewpoints with impunity on national TV, he adds to the already volatile environment that is increasingly accepting of negative portrayals of Muslims. Public racist utterances by public figures validates the racist feelings that people may be harboring in their hearts; it emboldens people to act out against Muslims based on irrational fear or hatred, and eventually this can lead to an environment that is accepting of unjust and discriminatory acts against Muslims. This is why, NPR's stance was welcomed - it sent out a strong signal that racist views have no place in the America they envision. Conversely, Fox News, by signing on Juan Williams, sent out a strong signal that the propagation of racist views based on irrational fears is acceptable in the America they envision.

That said, now let's take a look at how varied Muslim women's "garb" can be!

Muslim Women "Garb"!